Collaborative Website Presence

ABSTRACT

Website presence includes receiving aggregated website presence information describing website presence information for one or more objects of a website, and displaying the aggregated website presence information based at least in part on a website object profile for an object of the website. Cross-website presence includes receiving aggregated website presence information from a first one or more websites, and publishing the received aggregated website presence information to one or more subscribing websites. The website presence information describes one or more of the state of a website object regarding its participation in a communication session, the ability of the website object to participate in a communication session, and the willingness of the website object to participate in a communication session. Each of the one or more objects represents an entity associated with the website.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application may be related to one or more of the following commonlyassigned U.S. patent applications filed on even date herewith:

Ser. No. ______, entitled “Website Presence” (Attorney Docket No.037273-000012); and

Ser. No. ______, entitled “Website Presence Marketplace” (AttorneyDocket No. 037273-000014).

The related applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference asif set forth fully herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of computer science. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to collaborative websitepresence.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Presence information for typical instant messenger services is based onan invitation from one user to another user. Each user must registerwith the instant messenger service and setup an account to become amember in order to share the presence information with others on theuser's “buddy list.” Users on each other's buddy list can engage ininstant messaging (usually in the form of real-time text-based messageexchange) or voice chat based on the presence state of each user. Thepresence state of each user is typically set manually by the user tovalues such as “busy,” “do-not-disturb,” “out to lunch,” “available,”and “appear offline.” This basic level of presence information is oftena rough approximation of the user's actual status and reveals verylittle about the status of a user who is browsing a particular website.Accordingly, a need exists for an improved solution for facilitatingcommunication between website visitors.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Website presence includes receiving aggregated website presenceinformation describing website presence information for one or moreobjects of a website, and displaying the aggregated website presenceinformation based at least in part on a website object profile for anobject. Cross-website presence includes receiving aggregated websitepresence information from a first one or more websites, and publishingthe received aggregated website presence information to one or moresubscribing websites. The website presence information describes one ormore of the state of a website object regarding its participation in acommunication session, the ability of the website object to participatein a communication session, and the willingness of the website object toparticipate in a communication session. Each of the one or more objectsrepresents an entity associated with the website.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of thepresent invention and, together with the detailed description, serve toexplain the principles and implementations of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer system suitable for implementingaspects of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram that illustrates a system for website presencein accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram that illustrates privacy control and accesscontrol in a system for website presence in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a high-level flow diagram that illustrates a method forwebsite presence from the perspective of a website visitor in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a high-level flow diagram that illustrates a method forwebsite presence from the perspective of a website presence server inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram that illustrates a method for website visitorregistration from the perspective of a website visitor in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram that illustrates a method for website visitorregistration from the perspective of a website presence server inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram that illustrates a method for website presencefrom the perspective of a website visitor in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram that illustrates a method for website presencefrom the perspective of a website presence server in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10A is a block diagram that illustrates a website object profile inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10B is a block diagram that illustrates a website presence schemein accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram that illustrates a user interface in a systemfor website presence in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram that illustrates types of object websitepresence information in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 13A is a block diagram that illustrates multiple website objectsand associated website presence information in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13B is a block diagram that illustrates multiple kinds of websitepresence information in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram that illustrates derived website presenceinformation in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram that illustrates privacy levels in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram that illustrates a system for cross-websitepresence collaboration in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 17 is a high-level flow diagram that illustrates a method forcross-website presence collaboration in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a high-level flow diagram that illustrates a method forcross-website presence collaboration from the perspective of a websiteowner in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a high-level flow diagram that illustrates a method forcross-website presence collaboration from the perspective of acollaboration server in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram that illustrates agreements to exchangewebsite presence information in a cross-website marketplace inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram that illustrates exchanging website presenceinformation based on agreements to exchange website presence informationin a cross-website marketplace in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 22 is a flow diagram that illustrates a method for cross-websitemarketing from the perspective of a cross-website marketing portal inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a flow diagram that illustrates a method for cross-websitemarketing from the perspective of a website owner in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram that illustrates a website presenceinformation catalog in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 25A is a block diagram that illustrates a website presenceinformation catalog interface in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 25B is a block diagram that illustrates a website presenceinformation catalog entry description in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 25C is a block diagram that illustrates a website presenceinformation catalog entry description for auctioned website presenceinformation in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention are described herein in the contextof collaborative website presence. Those of ordinary skill in the artwill realize that the following detailed description of the presentinvention is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any waylimiting. Other embodiments of the present invention will readilysuggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit of thisdisclosure. Reference will now be made in detail to implementations ofthe present invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Thesame reference indicators will be used throughout the drawings and thefollowing detailed description to refer to the same or like parts.

In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of theimplementations described herein are shown and described. It will, ofcourse, be appreciated that in the development of any such actualimplementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be madein order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliancewith application- and business-related constraints, and that thesespecific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from onedeveloper to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such adevelopment effort might be complex and time-consuming, but wouldnevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those ofordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the components,process steps, and/or data structures may be implemented using varioustypes of operating systems (OS), computing platforms, firmware, computerprograms, computer languages, and/or general-purpose machines. Themethod can be run as a programmed process running on processingcircuitry. The processing circuitry can take the form of numerouscombinations of processors and operating systems, connections andnetworks, data stores, or a stand-alone device. The process can beimplemented as instructions executed by such hardware, hardware alone,or any combination thereof. The software may be stored on a programstorage device readable by a machine.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the components,processes and/or data structures may be implemented using machinelanguage, assembler, C or C++, Java and/or other high level languageprograms running on a data processing computer such as a personalcomputer, workstation computer, mainframe computer, or high performanceserver running an OS such as Solaris® available from Sun Microsystems,Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., Windows Vista™, Windows NT®, Windows XP,Windows XP PRO, and Windows® 2000, available from Microsoft Corporationof Redmond, Wash., Apple OS X-based systems, available from Apple Inc.of Cupertino, Calif., or various versions of the Unix operating systemsuch as Linux available from a number of vendors. The method may also beimplemented on a multiple-processor system, or in a computingenvironment including various peripherals such as input devices, outputdevices, displays, pointing devices, memories, storage devices, mediainterfaces for transferring data to and from the processor(s), and thelike. In addition, such a computer system or computing environment maybe networked locally, or over the Internet or other networks. Differentimplementations may be used and may include other types of operatingsystems, computing platforms, computer programs, firmware, computerlanguages and/or general-purpose machines; and. In addition, those ofordinary skill in the art will recognize that devices of a less generalpurpose nature, such as hardwired devices, field programmable gatearrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or thelike, may also be used without departing from the scope and spirit ofthe inventive concepts disclosed herein.

In the context of the present invention, the term “network” includeslocal area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), metro areanetworks, residential networks, corporate networks, inter-networks, theInternet, the World Wide Web, cable television systems, telephonesystems, wireless telecommunications systems, fiber optic networks,token ring networks, Ethernet networks, ATM networks, frame relaynetworks, satellite communications systems, and the like. Such networksare well known in the art and consequently are not further describedhere.

In the context of the present invention, the term “identifier” describesan ordered series of one or more numbers, characters, symbols, or thelike. More generally, an “identifier” describes any entity that can berepresented by one or more bits.

In the context of the present invention, the term “processor” describesa physical computer (either stand-alone or distributed) or a virtualmachine (either stand-alone or distributed) that processes or transformsdata. The processor may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware,or a combination thereof.

In the context of the present invention, the term “data stores”describes a hardware and/or software means or apparatus, either local ordistributed, for storing digital or analog information or data. The term“Data store” describes, by way of example, any such devices as randomaccess memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), dynamic random accessmemory (DRAM), static dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), Flashmemory, hard drives, disk drives, floppy drives, tape drives, CD drives,DVD drives, magnetic tape devices (audio, visual, analog, digital, or acombination thereof), optical storage devices, electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM), solid state memory devices andUniversal Serial Bus (USB) storage devices, and the like. The term “Datastore” also describes, by way of example, databases, repositories, filesystems, record systems, object oriented databases, relationaldatabases, SQL databases, audit trails and logs, program memory, cacheand buffers, and the like.

In the context of the present invention, the term “network interface”describes the means by which users including website visitors access anetwork for the purposes of communicating across it or retrievinginformation from it.

In the context of the present invention, the term “user interface”describes any device or group of devices for presenting and/or receivinginformation and/or directions to and/or from persons. A user interfacemay comprise a means to present information to persons, such as a visualdisplay projector or screen, a loudspeaker, a light or system of lights,a printer, a Braille device, a vibrating device, or the like. A userinterface may also include a means to receive information or directionsfrom persons, such as one or more or combinations of buttons, keys,levers, switches, knobs, touch pads, touch screens, microphones, speechdetectors, motion detectors, cameras, and light detectors. Exemplaryuser interfaces comprise pagers, mobile phones, desktop computers,laptop computers, handheld and palm computers, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), cathode-ray tubes (CRTs), keyboards, keypads, liquidcrystal displays (LCDs), control panels, horns, sirens, alarms,printers, speakers, mouse devices, consoles, and speech recognitiondevices.

In the context of the present invention, the term “system” describes anycomputer information and/or control device, devices or network ofdevices, of hardware and/or software, comprising processor means, datastorage means, program means, and/or user interface means, which isadapted to communicate with the embodiments of the present invention,via one or more data networks or connections, and is adapted for use inconjunction with the embodiments of the present invention.

In the context of the present invention, the term “website presence”describes one or more of the state of a website object regarding itsparticipation in a communication session, the ability of the websiteobject to participate in a communication session, and the willingness ofthe website object to participate in a communication session.

In the context of the present invention, the term “website object”describes a representation of an entity associated with a website. Awebsite object may represent a visitor to the website. A website objectmay also represent an event associated with the website, such as a livedemonstration session and a live question-and-answer session. By way ofexample, a vendor's website may feature a live question and answersession to answer questions about the vendor's products. An object mayalso comprise an interactive video session. By way of example, avendor's website may feature a live demonstration session to demonstratethe operation of one or more of the vendor's products. The particularpresence information of a website object that is tracked and publishedis configurable by the website object.

In the context of the present invention, the term “aggregated websitepresence” describes a collection of website presence informationregarding multiple objects associated with the same website. Theaggregated website presence information includes presence information ofeach website object, and website presence information that describes thecollection of website objects as a whole. By way of example, theaggregated website presence information may include the website pageviewing activity presence, discussion/forum/event presence, and salesactivity presence.

In the context of the present invention, the term “subscriber” refers toan entity that requests access to particular website presenceinformation. A subscriber may pay a fee in return for receiving all orpart of the requested website presence information.

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a computer system 100 suitable forimplementing aspects of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1,system 100 includes a bus 102 which interconnects major subsystems suchas a processor 104, an internal memory 106 (such as a RAM), aninput/output (I/O) controller 108, a removable memory (such as a memorycard) 122, an external device such as a display screen 110 via displayadapter 112, a roller-type input device 114, a joystick 116, a numerickeyboard 118, an alphanumeric keyboard 118, directional navigation pad126 and a wireless interface 120. Many other devices can be connected.Wireless network interface 120, wired network interface 128, or both,may be used to interface to a local or wide area network (such as theInternet) using any network interface system known to those skilled inthe art. Many other devices or subsystems (not shown) may be connectedin a similar manner. Also, it is not necessary for all of the devicesshown in FIG. 1 to be present to practice the present invention.Furthermore, the devices and subsystems may be interconnected indifferent ways from that shown in FIG. 1. Code to implement the presentinvention may be operably disposed in internal memory 106 or stored onstorage media such as removable memory 122, a floppy disk, a thumbdrive, a CompactFlash® storage device, a DVD-R (“Digital Versatile Disc”or “Digital Video Disc”-Recordable), a DVD-ROM (“Digital Versatile Disc”or “Digital Video Disc” read-only memory), a CD-R (CompactDisc-Recordable), or a CD-ROM (Compact Disc read-only memory).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram that illustrates a system for website presencein accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 2, a system for website presence comprises one or more websitepresence servers 216 communicatively coupled to a website presencerepository 234 and to one or more processors (244, 224, 202).Embodiments of the present invention that have multiple website presenceservers 216 may implement redundancy and HA (High Availability) so inthe event one of the website presence servers fails or otherwise must betaken offline, a website presence capability can still be supported bythe remaining website presence servers. One or more website presenceservers can be specified by host names through a DNS service. Each ofprocessors (244, 224, 202) is associated with a respective user (242,222, 200) who may want to access each others' website presenceinformation. According to one embodiment of the present invention,processors (244, 224, 202) are configured to receive aggregated websitepresence information describing website presence information for one ormore objects of a website, and display the aggregated website presenceinformation based at least in part on an object profile for a websiteobject. A website object profile comprises information related to awebsite object. Website object profiles are discussed below in moredetail with reference to FIG. 10A. Processors (244, 224, 202) may alsoinclude a website presence plug-in providing added functionality towebsite visitors. By way of example, the processor associated with awebsite visitor desiring a voice chat capability can be configured witha website presence functionality such as a plug-in providing a voicechat capability.

The one or more website presence servers 216 are configured to receivewebsite presence information from one or more objects of a website,aggregate the received website presence information based at least inpart on a website presence scheme for the website to create aggregatedwebsite presence information, and send the aggregated website presenceinformation to one or more subscribers. A website presence schemeidentifies the aggregated website presence information that is availablefrom a particular website, how the aggregated website presenceinformation is determined, and how the aggregated website presenceinformation is to be distributed. A website presence scheme is describedin more detail below with reference to FIG. 10B. The aggregated websitepresence information may be stored in website presence repository 234.Alternatively, the aggregated website presence information may be keptin a cache associated with the one or more website presence servers 216.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, processors(244, 224, 202) are configured to determine whether this is the firsttime that a website visitor has visited a particular website, and if itis the first time, receive functionality such as a website presenceplug-in, receive a cookie identifying the website visitor for subsequentwebsite presence activities, and create a website object profile. Theone or more website presence servers 216 are configured to determinewhether this is the first time that the website visitor has visited aparticular website, and if it is the first time that the website visitorhas visited the website, send functionality such as a website presenceplug-in to the website visitor's processor to provide communicationfunctionality not already present on the website visitor's processor,send a cookie identifying the website visitor for subsequent websitepresence activities, and create a website object profile for the websitevisitor. Changes made to a website object profile on a visitor'sprocessor and changes made to a corresponding website object profile onone or more website presence servers 216 are synchronized, such as whenthe registered website visitor makes a change to the website objectprofile, or when the registered website visitor logs into the websiteusing a different processor.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, processors(244, 224, 202) are configured to collect visitor website presenceinformation, apply a privacy filter to the visitor website presenceinformation to create filtered visitor website presence information,send the filtered visitor website presence information to one or morewebsite presence servers, receive aggregated website presenceinformation from the one or more website presence servers, and presentthe aggregated website presence information based at least in part on awebsite object profile for the visitor. Processors (244, 224, 202) arefurther configured to repeat the collecting, applying, sending,receiving, and presenting until the website visitor leaves the website.The one or more website presence servers 216 are configured to receivefiltered visitor website presence information from one or more objectsof a website, aggregate the visitor website presence information basedat least in part on a website presence scheme for the website,optionally apply one or more access controls to the aggregated websitepresence information to potentially limit access to all or part of theaggregated website presence information, and send the aggregated websitepresence information that was not excluded by application of the one ormore access controls to one or more subscribers.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a website visitorhas at least one of three roles: anonymous visitor 222, registeredvisitor 242, and website agent 200. An anonymous visitor 222 surfs thewebsite without previously registering with the website. According toone embodiment of the present invention, an anonymous visitor 222 isidentified based at least in part on information about the anonymousvisitor's processor, such as an identifier for the primary hard drive ofthe processor or the serial number of the processor's CPU. According toone embodiment of the present invention, an anonymous visitor 222 isuniquely identified based at least in part on information extracted froma network connection associated with the anonymous visitor.

A registered visitor 242 surfs the website after registering with thewebsite. The website knows the identity of a registered visitor 242. Theregistered visitor 242 is identified by the registered visitor's loginID after registration.

A website agent 200 provides one or more services or offers one or moreproducts or services for sale at the website. A website agent 200 mustfirst register with the website. An agent 200 may stay online and makeits presence known to all visitors.

The presence information may be used to facilitate interaction betweenone or more of event object 204, registered visitor 242, anonymousvisitor 222, and agent 200. An interaction between agent 200 viaprocessor 202 and registered visitor 242 via processor 244 is shown atreference numeral 208. An interaction between agent 200 via processor202 and anonymous visitor 222 via processor 224 is shown at referencenumeral 210. An interaction between anonymous visitor 222 via processor224 and registered visitor 242 via processor 244 is shown at referencenumeral 242.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, two or moreanonymous visitors may interact. By way of example, a first anonymousvisitor visiting a vendor's website may view the items in a secondanonymous visitor's shopping cart (a type of website presenceinformation) and find that the second anonymous visitor's shopping cartincludes an item that the first anonymous visitor is considering forpurchase. The first anonymous visitor might then invite the secondanonymous visitor to a chat session to discuss the item.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, two or moreregistered visitors may interact. By way of example, a first registeredvisitor visiting a vendor's website may view the interests (a type ofwebsite presence information for registered visitors) of a secondregistered visitor currently visiting the same website. The firstregistered visitor may notice that the second registered visitor hassimilar interests and then invite the second registered visitor to achat session to discuss their common interests.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, a registeredvisitor may interact with an event object. By way of example, aregistered visitor may attend a live product demonstration (a type ofevent object) at the website.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, an anonymousvisitor may interact with an event object. By way of example, aregistered visitor may attend a live question-and-answer session (a typeof event object) at the website.

While FIG. 2 illustrates one registered visitor, 242, one anonymousvisitor 222, and one agent 200, embodiments of the present invention maybe applied to a system having any number of registered visitors,anonymous visitors, and agents.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram that illustrates privacy control and accesscontrol in a system for website presence in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. Website presence repository 316 ofFIG. 3 provides more detail for reference numeral 234 of FIG. 2. Websiterepository 316 comprises an individual presence database 308 for storingwebsite presence information for individuals such as individual 306, andfor events 300, such as live demonstration event 302 and live question &answer session event 304. Website presence repository 316 also comprisesa website presence database for storing website presence informationfrom individual presence database 308 as specified by the website's sitepresence scheme 312.

Still referring to FIG. 3, privacy filter 310 enables each individual306 visiting the website to specify how the individual's 306 websitepresence information is collected, and which of the individual's 306website presence information is made available for viewing by otherindividuals visiting the same website 318, including an agent. Anindividual's 306 website presence information is filtered according tothe privacy filter 310 before being sent to a website presence server.

According to one embodiment, a separate privacy filter 310 for ananonymous website visitor is stored on the anonymous website visitor'sprocessor. According to another embodiment of the present invention, aregistered website visitor's privacy filter 310 is stored both on theregistered website visitor's processor, and on the website's websitepresence repository. Changes made to both copies of a registered websitevisitor's privacy filter are synchronized, such as when the registeredwebsite visitor makes a change to the filter, or when the registeredwebsite visitor logs into the website using a different processor.

Referring again to FIG. 3, website presence scheme 312 comprises adefinition of how website presence information is calculated andaggregated from the individual website presence information collected.According to one embodiment of the present invention, the websitepresence scheme 312 comprises a set of queries for implementing inprogramming code in a website presence server, or as a database storedprocedure. Individual presence information from individual presencedatabase 308 is processed according to the website presence scheme 312,and the results of the processing are stored in website presencedatabase 320. Both individual presence database 308 and website presencedatabase 320 are updated to reflect the current website presence stateof website visitors and website events.

Still referring to FIG. 3, an access control list (ACL) specifies theaccess rights one or more individuals or group of individuals have toparticular website presence information. The access rights includewhether the one or more individuals or group of individuals(authorization group) is allowed to view the particular website presenceinformation (presence object group). The access rights may also includewhether the one or more individuals or group of individuals isprohibited from viewing the particular website presence information.According to one embodiment of the present invention, the authorizationgroup is based at least in part on the website visitor's characteristicsor attributes, such as the website visitors' geographical region(possibly derived from an IP address), a website visitor's subscriptionlevel as indicated during account sign-up. According to one embodimentof the present invention, a presence object group is categorized basedat least in part on the website presence scheme, e.g. all livedemonstration sessions, all registered visitors, etc. As shown in FIG.3, access control list 322 is stored in website presence repository 316.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a search interface(314) is configured to enable a website visitor to search individualpresence data under the access control mechanism discussed above. If thewebsite visitor in an authorization group has access to a presenceobject group, the website visitor is allowed to perform a search forindividual website presence information within the presence objectgroup.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the searchinterface allows a website visitor to search for website visitors,activities, and events having a particular status. By way of example, awebsite visitor may search for a website visitor whose presenceinformation includes “checking out products,” so that the two websitevisitors might talk about shopping experiences at the website. As afurther example, an agent may search for a website visitor whosepresence status is “need help” or confused,” so that the agent mayinitiate a conversation with the website visitor. As a further example,a website visitor may search for a live demonstration event whose eventpresence information is “Hot Event,” so that the website visitor mayparticipate in the event.

FIG. 4 is a high-level flow diagram that illustrates a method forwebsite presence from the perspective of a website visitor in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention. The processes illustratedin FIG. 4 may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or acombination thereof. At 400, aggregated website presence informationdescribing website presence information for one or more objects of awebsite is received. Each of the one or more objects represents awebsite visitor. At 402, the aggregated website presence information isdisplayed based at least in part on an object profile for a visitor tothe website.

FIG. 5 is a high-level flow diagram that illustrates a method forwebsite presence from the perspective of a website presence server inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The processesillustrated in FIG. 5 may be implemented in hardware, software,firmware, or a combination thereof. At 500, website presence informationfrom one or more objects of a website is received. At 502, the receivedwebsite presence information is aggregated based on a website presencescheme for the website, to create aggregated website presenceinformation. At 504, the aggregated website presence information is sentto one or more subscribers.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram that illustrates a method for websiteregistration from the perspective of a website visitor in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention. The processes illustratedin FIG. 6 may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or acombination thereof. At 600, a website visitor visits a website.According to one embodiment of the present invention, a website whichdeploys a website presence facility embeds appropriate code into its Webpages, such as the following Javascript excerpt:

<script type=“text/javascript”src=“http://www.purplegoods.com/seed/sitepresence.php?department=1&amp;amp;what=hidden&amp;pingtimes=15”> </script>The code shown above invokes an ActiveX plug-in program which implementsa communication protocol such as SIP SIMPLE to communicate presenceinformation between peers. Those of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize that other programming languages and communication protocolsmay be used.

Still referring to FIG. 6, at 602, a determination is made regardingwhether this is the first time that the visitor has visited the website.If this is the first time the visitor has visited the website and if thevisitor desires communication functionality not already present on thevisitor's processor, at 604 functionality such as a website presenceplug-in is received. At 606, a cookie identifying the website visitorfor subsequent website presence activities is received. At 608, awebsite object profile is created. Website object profiles are discussedbelow in more detail with reference to FIG. 10A.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram that illustrates a method for website visitorregistration from the perspective of a website presence server inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The processesillustrated in FIG. 7 may be implemented in hardware, software,firmware, or a combination thereof. At 700, a website visitor visits awebsite. At 702, a determination is made at a website visitor'sprocessor regarding whether this is the first time that the visitor hasvisited the website. If this is the first time the website visitor hasvisited the website and if the website visitor desires communicationfunctionality not already present on the visitor's processor, at 704,functionality such as a website presence plug-in is sent from thewebsite presence server to the website visitor's processor. At 706, acookie generated by the website and identifying the website visitor forsubsequent website presence activities is sent to the website visitor'sprocessor. The website visitor's browser stores the cookie on thewebsite visitor's browser. At 708, a website object profile is createdby the website visitor's processor.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram that illustrates a method for website presencefrom the perspective of a website visitor in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. The processes illustrated in FIG. 8may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or a combinationthereof. At 800, visitor website presence information is collected. At802, a privacy filter is applied to the visitor website presenceinformation to create filtered visitor website presence information.Privacy filters are described in more detail below with reference toFIG. 10A. At 804, the filtered visitor website presence information issent to one or more website presence servers. At 806, aggregated websitepresence information is received from the one or more website presenceservers. At 808, the aggregated website presence information ispresented based at least in part on a website object profile for thevisitor. At 810, a determination is made regarding whether the websitevisitor has left the website. If the website visitor has not left thewebsite, processing continues at 800.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram that illustrates a method for website presencefrom the perspective of a website presence server in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. The processes illustrated in FIG. 9may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or a combinationthereof. At 900, visitor website presence information is received fromone or more objects of a website. At 902, the visitor website presenceinformation is aggregated based at least in part on a website presencescheme for the website. At 904, one or more access controls areoptionally applied to the aggregated website presence information,potentially limiting access to all or part of the aggregated websitepresence information. Access controls are discussed in more detail belowwith reference to FIG. 10B. At 906, the aggregated website presenceinformation that was not excluded by application of the one or moreaccess controls is sent to one or more subscribers. Updated websitepresence information processing continues at 900. According to oneembodiment of the present invention, the updated website presenceinformation processing is performed at a predetermined interval.

FIG. 10A is a block diagram that illustrates a website object profile inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 10A, a website object profile comprises information related to awebsite object. By way of example, a website object profile may comprisean indication of one or more of the object's interests 1000 if theobject represents a visitor to the website, or the visitor's contactinformation 1002.

The website object profile may also comprise an indication of the typeof aggregated website presence information to exclude from display 1004to the object if the object represents a visitor to the website. By wayof example, indication 1004 may indicate that information about anotherwebsite visitor's interests is not to be displayed to the websitevisitor associated with the website object profile.

A website object profile is maintained on a website visitor's processor.A website object profile may be updated by the website visitor.Additionally, a website visitor may authorize a website presence serverto update the visitor's website object profile with information learnedabout the website visitor. By way of example, the website visitor mayauthorize a website presence server to update the visitor's websiteobject profile to indicate how frequently the website visitor visits thewebsite. As a further example, the website visitor may authorize awebsite presence server to update the visitor's website object profileto indicate the number of purchases made at the website during aparticular period.

The website object profile may also comprise a privacy filter 1006indicating website presence information not for publication. By way ofexample, privacy filter 1006 may indicate that information about theinterests of the website visitor associated with the website objectprofile is not to be made available for publication to other objects ofthe website.

FIG. 10B is a block diagram that illustrates a website presence schemein accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. A websitepresence scheme is specific to a particular website. As shown in FIG.10B, a website presence scheme comprises an identification of thewebsite presence information that is available from a particularwebsite. By way of example, a website presence scheme may indicate thatvisitor website presence information is available, as well as aggregatedwebsite presence information (e.g. number of visitors currently visitingthe website). A website presence scheme may also comprise an indicationthe method for deriving certain website presence information. By way ofexample, a website presence scheme may indicate that a website visitor'sstatus may be set to “confused” if the website visitor's browsingactivity includes frequently switching between a small number of webpages. A website presence scheme may also comprise one or more accesscontrols for limiting access to all or part of the aggregated websitepresence information. By way of example, an access control may indicatethat all or part of the aggregated website presence information shouldnot be sent to one or more website objects. The determination to limitthe website presence information to less than the website presenceinformation subscribed to may be based on one or more factors, includingwhether the subscriber paid for the website presence information,whether the subscriber's interactions at the website are determined tobe objectionable, and whether the subscriber is determined to haveviolated a service agreement between the subscriber and the owner of thewebsite presence information.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram that illustrates a user interface in a systemfor website presence in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 11, user interface 1100 comprises tabbedinformation regarding a product overview 1102, product pricing 1106, howto use the product 1108, product details 1110, product reviews 1112, andproduct frequently-asked-questions (FAQs) 1114. User interface 1100 alsocomprises a button 1130 for adding the product to the website visitor'sshopping cart.

Still referring to FIG. 11, user interface 1100 also comprises an iconrepresenting the website visitor 1126, and an indication of presenceinformation for the website visitor 1128. Reference numeral 1124indicates three website agents (Sophi, Helen, and Factor) that may beconsulted regarding additional information about the website. Theadditional information may be provided via a recorded message.Alternatively, the additional information may be provided via a livechat session (e.g. text-based message exchange or voice chat) with anindividual agent associated with the website. The balloon next to“Sophi” in section 1124 indicates a chat session between agent Sophi andanother website visitor.

Still referring to FIG. 11, user interface 1100 also comprises anindication of other visitors currently visiting the same website, andthe website presence information of the respective other visitors.Reference numeral 1118 indicates five website visitors (“Angie,”“Lucie,” “Heng,” “Visitor 22,” and “Visitor 44”) with a website presenceof “Checking out.” Visitors “Angie,” “Lucie,” and “Heng,” are registeredvisitors of the website, while visitors “Visitor 22” and “Visitor 44”are anonymous visitors of the website and have not registered with thewebsite.

Reference numeral 1120 indicates five website visitors with a websitepresence of “Continue shopping.” Reference numeral 1122 indicates one offive website visitors with a website presence of “Just looking.”

The shopping cart icons indicated in 1118 and 1120 represent items awebsite visitor has decided to purchase. According to one embodiment ofthe present invention, a website visitor may click on the shopping carticon associated with another website visitor to view the items in thatother website visitor's shopping cart.

The balloons indicated next to “Angie” and “Visitor 22” in 1118,“Wilson” and “Visitor 38” in 1120, and “Ken” in 1122 indicate a currentor past chat session between the respective website visitor and anotherwebsite visitor, or between the respective website visitor and a websiteagent. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a websitevisitor may click on the balloon associated with a particular websitevisitor to view one or more chat sessions involving the particularwebsite visitor.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram that illustrates types of object websitepresence information in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention. According to one embodiment of the present invention, awebsite visitor selects from among multiple pre-configured websiteobject presence information (1204). By way of example, a website visitormay be presented with a list of website object presence information suchas (“Busy,” “Available to chat,” and “Idle”), and the website visitormay select one of the website object presence information options.According to another embodiment of the present invention, the websitevisitor supplies an indication of the visitor's presence information(1202). By way of example, a website visitor may define a website objectpresence information of “doing my homework,” “vacationing in Bermuda,”or “mowing the lawn.” According to another embodiment of the presentinvention, website object presence information is based upon a websitevisitor's current activity (1208). By way of example, the website objectpresence information may be “checking out products,” “in a demo,”“talking to an agent,” “been viewing the website for 43 minutes today,”or “shopping cart contains one book by Robert Ludlum and one fondueset.”

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the object'spresence information is derived from information known about the websiteobject (1206). Derived website presence information is explained in moredetail below with reference to FIGS. 13B and 14.

FIG. 13A is a block diagram that illustrates multiple website objectsand associated website presence information in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13A represents an examplesnapshot of the current website presence information for websiteobjects, where each object represents a website event or a websitevisitor. As shown in FIG. 13A, website 1300 comprises ten objects,including seven visitors (1302, 1314, 1306, 1316, 1310, 1318, and 1320).Objects 1304, 1308, and 1312 represent events taking place on thewebsite 1300. Object 1312 represents a live video session event, object1304 represents a live question-and-answer session event, and object1308 represents a live demonstration session. Each of the objects isassociated with website presence information indicated by the quotedinformation below the respective objects.

Depending on how a website owner chooses to implement a website presenceservice as specified in the website presence scheme, each websitepresence information shown in FIG. 13A could be the result of a websitevisitor or event selecting from among multiple pre-configured websiteobject presence information, as discussed above regarding referencenumeral 1204 of FIG. 12. In other words, if a website presence schemeindicates that a website visitor or event may select a website presencefrom a list of website presence information that includes the onesindicated in FIG. 13A, a website visitor or event would be able toselect a particular one of those listed.

Alternatively, each website presence information shown in FIG. 13A couldbe the result of a website visitor or event supplying an indication ofthe visitor's or event's presence information, as discussed aboveregarding reference numeral 1202 of FIG. 12. Thus, if a website presencescheme indicates that a website visitor or event may supply anindication of the visitor's or event's presence information, a websitevisitor or event would be able to indicate any of the particular websitepresence information illustrated in FIG. 13A, or any other websitepresence information that the website visitor desires.

Website presence information shown by reference numeral 1320 (“In aDemo”) in FIG. 13A could based upon a website visitor's currentactivity, as discussed above regarding reference numeral 1208 of FIG.12. Website presence information shown by reference numeral 1318(“Confused”) in FIG. 13A could be derived from information known aboutthe website object, as discussed above regarding reference numeral 1206of FIG. 12.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a website objectmy have multiple presence states simultaneously. By way of example, awebsite object may have the presence states “Viewing pages” and “Readyto interact” simultaneously. As a further example, a website object mayhave the presence states “Just looking” and “Browsing website for 45minutes” simultaneously.

FIG. 13B is a block diagram that illustrates multiple kinds of websitepresence information in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention. Each of the particular website presence information shown inFIG. 13B may be selected by a website object, provided by the websiteobject, or derived based on other information known about the websiteobject. Example website presence information associated with a websitevisitor is shown at reference numeral 1324. Example website presenceinformation associated with a website event is shown at referencenumeral 1326.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram that illustrates derived website presenceinformation in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.As shown in FIG. 14, a website presence deriver 1422 is configured toderive website presence 1424 based at least in part on an analysis ofinformation associated with the website object and not excluded by aprivacy filter associated with the website object. The information aboutthe website object may comprise the website object's identity 1412, thewebsite last visited by the website visitor 1418 if the website objectrepresents a website visitor, the website object's time zone 1414,computer activities performed by the website object 1410, the websitevisitor's navigation history if the website object represents a websitevisitor, the website object's current location, the particular Webbrowser used by the website visitor 1408 (e.g., Microsoft InternetExplorer™, Firefox®, or Safari™) if the website object represents awebsite object, and other information about the website object 1416.

By way of example, a vendor website visitor's presence may be set to“confused” if the website visitor swaps repeatedly between two differentproduct information pages.

Examples of information for use in determining a website object'sidentity 1412 include the website object's IP address, location, andinformation provided by the website object. Visitor registrationinformation may also be used to determine a website object's identity,if the visitor registered. Example computer activities 1410 that may beused in deriving a website object's website presence comprise thecurrent or previous websites visited by the website visitor if thewebsite object represents a website visitor, the time and duration ofeach visit to the current or previous websites, interaction with otherwebsite objects, the website visitor's participation in other websiteevents, and the website visitor's shopping activity.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the websitepresence of an event is based at least in part on the event's explicitstatus and website visitor participation in the event. By way ofexample, if the event's explicit status was “Opens at 7 PM” and thenumber of participants signed up for the event exceeds a predeterminednumber, the event's website presence may be assigned a value of “HotEvent.”

FIG. 15 is a block diagram that illustrates privacy levels in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 15,various privacy levels may be implemented to determine information aboutwebsite objects that is tracked or reported to a website presenceserver. The various privacy levels may be specified in a privacy filterassociated with a website object. A website visitor may have differentprivacy filters for different websites. According to one embodiment ofthe present invention, both website object identity and activity aretracked and reported 1508. According to another embodiment of thepresent invention, website object identity and activity are tracked, butonly website object activity is displayed 1506. According to anotherembodiment of the present invention, website object identity andactivity are tracked, neither website object identity nor website objectactivity are displayed as individual presence, and both website objectidentity and website object activity form part of an aggregated websitepresence 1504. According to another embodiment of the present invention,website object identity is not tracked, website object activity istracked but is not displayed as individual presence, and website objectactivity forms part of an aggregated website presence 1502. According toanother embodiment of the present invention, neither website objectidentity nor website object activity is tracked or reported 1500.

FIGS. 16-19 illustrate cross-website presence collaboration inaccordance with example embodiments of the present invention. A websiteowner subscribes to the website presence information of one or moreother affiliated websites, and agrees to provide website presenceinformation to the one or more other affiliated websites.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram that illustrates a system for cross-websitepresence collaboration in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 16, a system for cross-website presencecollaboration comprises one or more collaboration servers 1640communicably coupled to an aggregated website presence repository 1642and to one or more website presence servers (1612, 1678), where each ofthe website presence servers (1612, 1678) is associated with a differentwebsite. The one or more website presence servers (1612, 1678) areconfigured to publish aggregated website presence information for aparticular website to a first one or more other websites, receiveaggregated website presence information from a second one or more otherwebsites according to a subscription, optionally apply one or moreaccess controls to the received aggregate website presence information,and send the received aggregated website presence information that wasnot excluded to one or more subscribers. The one or more collaborationservers 1640 are configured to receive aggregated website presenceinformation from a first one or more websites, optionally apply one ormore access controls to the aggregated website presence information topotentially limit access to all or part of the website presenceinformation, and publish the received aggregated website presenceinformation that was not excluded by application of the one or moreaccess controls. The aggregated website presence information may bestored in aggregated website presence repository 1642. Alternatively,the aggregated website presence information may be kept in a cacheassociated with the one or more collaboration servers 1640.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the one or morecollaboration servers 1640 are further configured to monitor trafficthrough the one or more collaboration servers 1640 to detect undesirableactivity and implement appropriate corrective measures. Exampleundesirable activity may include resource hogging by a particular one ormore subscribers. Corrective measures may include suspending or haltingdelivery to particular one or more subscribers

The presence information may be used to facilitate interaction betweenone or more of event objects (1616, 1662), registered visitors (1624,1646), anonymous visitors (1606, 1666), and agents (1600, 1674). Websitevisitors visiting the same website may still interact as described abovewith respect to other embodiments. In addition, website visitors of aparticular website may interact with objects of one or more otheraffiliated websites. As shown in FIG. 16, visitors of website A 1650 mayinteract with each other. Specifically, an interaction between agent1600 via processor 1610 and registered visitor 1624 via processor 1628is shown at reference numeral 1602. An interaction between agent 1600via processor 1610 and anonymous visitor 1606 via processor 1608 isshown at reference numeral 1604. An interaction between anonymousvisitor 1606 via processor 1608 and registered visitor 1624 viaprocessor 1628 is shown at reference numeral 1626.

Likewise, visitors of website B 1652 may interact with each other.Specifically, an interaction between agent 1674 via processor 1688 andregistered visitor 1646 via processor 1646 is shown at reference numeral1690. An interaction between agent 1674 via processor 1688 and anonymousvisitor 1666 via processor 1670 is shown at reference numeral 1672. Aninteraction between anonymous visitor 1666 via processor 1670 andregistered visitor 1646 via processor 1648 is shown at reference numeral1664.

Additionally, visitors of different websites may interact with eachother. An interaction between website A 1650 anonymous visitor 1606 viaprocessor 1608 and website B registered visitor 1646 via processor 1648is shown at reference numeral 1692. An interaction between website A1650 registered visitor 1624 via processor 1628 and website B 1652anonymous visitor 1666 via processor 1670 is shown at reference numeral1644.

FIG. 17 is a high-level flow diagram that illustrates a method forcross-website presence collaboration in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention. The processes illustrated in FIG. 17 may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof.At 1700, a website owner subscribes to the website presence informationof one or more other affiliated websites. At 1702, an agreement toprovide website presence information to the one or more other affiliatedwebsites is made.

FIG. 18 is a high-level flow diagram that illustrates a method forcross-website presence collaboration from the perspective of a websiteowner in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Theprocesses illustrated in FIG. 18 may be implemented in hardware,software, firmware, or a combination thereof. At 1800, aggregatedwebsite presence information for a particular website is published to afirst one or more other websites according to a subscription. Theaggregated website presence information may be published to the one ormore other websites via a collaboration server that collects websitepresence information from multiple websites and distributes theinformation according to subscriptions for the information. At 1802,aggregated website presence information is received from a second one ormore other websites according to a subscription. The aggregated websitepresence information may be received from the collaboration serverdescribed previously. According to one embodiment of the presentinvention, the first one or more other websites and the second one ormore other websites are the same.

Still referring to FIG. 18, at 1804, one or more access controls areoptionally applied to the received aggregated website presenceinformation, potentially limiting access to all or part of the receivedaggregated website presence information. At 1806, the receivedaggregated website presence information that was not excluded byapplication of the one or more access controls is sent to one or moresubscribers.

FIG. 19 is a high-level flow diagram that illustrates a method forcross-website presence collaboration from the perspective of acollaboration server in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention. The processes illustrated in FIG. 19 may be implemented inhardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. At 1900,aggregated website presence information from a first one or moresubscribing websites is received. At 1902, one or more access controlsare optionally applied to the aggregated website presence information,potentially limiting access to all or part of the website presenceinformation. At 1904, the received aggregated website presenceinformation that was not excluded by application of the one or moreaccess controls is published to one or more subscribing websites.According to one embodiment of the present invention, the first one ormore websites and the one or more subscribing websites are the same.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the interactionallowed between website objects is context-sensitive. By way of example,an action list may indicate a website visitor can join only an eventwith an “Open” presence. As a further example, a “Chat” action may bedisabled while the website visitor is “just looking.”

According to one embodiment of the present invention, website presenceinformation comprises aggregated information regarding web page viewingactivities of a website, such as the current most-viewed page, themost-viewed page in a past time period, the current most-viewed product,and the most-viewed product in a past time period, the currentmost-purchased items, the most-purchased items an a past period, and themost popular item currently in people's shopping carts. The past timeperiod may be, for example, 24 hours, 7 days, or 30 days.

FIGS. 20-25B illustrate exchanging website presence information in across-website presence marketplace in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention.

A cross-website marketing portal interfaces between website presenceinformation buyers and website presence information sellers tofacilitate the exchange of website presence information

FIGS. 20 and 21 are block diagrams that illustrate exchanging websitepresence information in a cross-website marketplace in accordance withone embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 20 illustrates makingagreements to exchange website presence information in a cross-websitemarketplace, and FIG. 21 illustrates exchanging website presenceinformation based on the agreements. While four website owners areillustrated in FIGS. 20 and 21, embodiments of the present inventionapply to any number of website owners. As shown in FIG. 20, across-website marketing portal 2012 is configured to facilitateagreements for exchange of website presence information between websitepresence information buyers and website presence information sellers.Each of website owners 2000, 2010, 2014, and 2024 may be a buyer ofwebsite presence information, a seller of website presence information,or both. As shown in FIG. 21, a cross-website marketing portal 2112 isalso configured to facilitate the exchange of the website presenceinformation in accordance with agreements made to exchange the websitepresence information discussed above with respect to FIG. 20.

In more detail, cross-website marketing portal 2112 is configured topublish one or more website presence information catalogs. Each of theone or more website presence information catalogs lists one or moregroupings of website presence information for sale from a particularwebsite. Cross-website marketing portal 2112 is further configured toreceive website presence information from one or more websitesassociated with the one or more website presence information catalogs.Cross-website marketing portal 2112 is further configured to sendwebsite presence information to one or more buyers of the websitepresence information.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, cross-websitemarketing portal 2112 is further configured to receive one or morepayments from the one or more buyers and send the one or more paymentsto one or more sellers of the website presence information sent to theone or more buyers.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, payments aremade using a monetary currency (e.g., euros or U.S. dollars). Accordingto another embodiment of the present invention, payments are made usinga virtual money system, where a buyer buys website presence informationusing credits, and a seller earns credits for selling its websitepresence information.

A processor associated with a website owner (2100, 2110, 2114, 2120) isconfigured to publish a website presence information catalog listing oneor more groupings of website presence information for sale. According toone embodiment of the present invention, the processor is configured topublish the website presence information catalog listing viacross-marketing portal 2112. The processor is further configured toreceive one or more offers for the one or more groupings. The processoris further configured to accept at least one of the one or more offersfrom one or more buyers. The processor is further configured to sendwebsite presence information to the one or more buyers.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the processoris further configured to receive one or more payments from the one ormore buyers and send the one or more payments to one or more sellers ofthe website presence information sent to the one or more buyers.

FIG. 22 is a flow diagram that illustrates a method for cross-websitemarketing from the perspective of a cross-website marketing portal inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The processesillustrated in FIG. 22 may be implemented in hardware, software,firmware, or a combination thereof. At 2200, one or more websitepresence information catalogs, each listing one or more groupings ofwebsite presence information for sale from a particular website, arepublished. At 2202, website presence information from one or morewebsites associated with the one or more website presence informationcatalogs is received. At 2204, website presence information is sent toone or more buyers of the website presence information. At 2206,payments received from the one or more buyers is optionally sent to theone more sellers. Alternatively, the one or more buyers may pay the oneor more sellers directly, with out involvement of the cross-websitemarketing portal.

FIG. 23 is a flow diagram that illustrates a method for cross-websitemarketing from the perspective of a website owner in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. The processes illustrated in FIG.23 may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or a combinationthereof. At 2300, a website presence information catalog listing one ormore groupings of website presence information for sale is published.According to one embodiment of the present invention, the websitepresence information catalog is published via a cross-website marketingportal. At 2302, one or more offers for the one or more groupings arereceived. At 2304, at least one of the one or more offers are acceptedfrom one or more buyers. At 2306, website presence information is sentto the one or more buyers. At 2308, payment is optionally received fromthe cross-website marketing portal for the website presence informationsent to the one or more buyers. Alternatively, payment is receiveddirectly from the one or more buyers without involvement of thecross-website marketing portal.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram that illustrates a website presenceinformation catalog in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 24, website presence information catalog2400 comprises multiple website presence information selections(2402-2476) available for purchase.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a website presenceinformation catalog comprises website presence selections at multiplelevels of granularity. According to another embodiment of the presentinvention, entries in a website presence information catalog arecategorized based at least in part on the geographic region thatregistered website visitors are from. Both of these embodiments areillustrated at reference numerals 2402-2434. For example, a buyer ofselection 2472 would be entitled to receive website presence informationfrom all registered visitors of the website that are from North America.At a lower level of granularity, a buyer of selection 2404 would beentitled to receive website presence information from all registeredvisitors of the website that are from the United States. At a stilllower level of granularity, a buyer of selection 2412 would be entitledto receive website presence information from all registered visitors ofthe website that are from the Western region of the United States.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, entries in awebsite presence information catalog are categorized based at least inpart on a monetary amount spent by registered website visitors at thewebsite. For example, a buyer of selection 2402 would be entitled toreceive website presence information from all registered visitors thatpurchased more than $5,000 worth of items from the website during thelast year.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, entries in awebsite presence information catalog are categorized based at least inpart on whether registered website visitors purchased a particularproduct at the website. According to a further embodiment of the presentinvention, entries in a website presence information catalog arecategorized based at least in part on whether registered websitevisitors purchased a particular product at the website within aspecified period. For example, a buyer of selection 2474 would beentitled to receive website presence information from all registeredvisitors that purchased product “X” within the last six months.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, entries in awebsite presence information catalog are categorized based at least inpart on a monetary amount spent on a particular product type at thewebsite. For example, a buyer of selection 2476 would be entitled toreceive website presence information from all registered visitors thatpurchased more than $1,000 worth of cosmetics in the last year.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, entries in awebsite presence information catalog are categorized based at least inpart on one or more interests of registered website visitors. Forexample, a buyer of selection 2478 would be entitled to receive websitepresence information from all registered visitors that indicated aninterest in boating.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, entries in awebsite presence information catalog are categorized based at least in awebsite event type. For example, a buyer of selection 2436 would beentitled to receive website presence information for all livedemonstration sessions at a website (2438-2452), and a buyer ofselection 2444 would be entitled to receive website presence informationfor all live waffle iron demonstration sessions at the website.Likewise, a buyer of selection 2454 would be entitled to receive websitepresence information for all live question and answer sessions at thewebsite (2456-2470), and a buyer of selection 2468 would be entitled toreceive website presence information for all hedge trimmer live questionand answer sessions at the website.

FIG. 25A is a block diagram that illustrates a website presenceinformation catalog interface in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention. As shown in FIG. 25A, website presence informationcatalog interface 2500 comprises a website presence data catalog browser2502, a website presence information catalog searcher 2504, and awebsite presence information catalog search results displayer 2506.Website presence information catalog browser 2502 is configured topresent website presence information catalog entries to an individualbased on input from the individual, and to accept an individual'sselection of one or more website presence information entries. Websitepresence information catalog searcher 2504 is configured to search forwebsite presence information catalog entries based upon search criteriaentered by the individual. Website presence information catalog searchresults displayer 2506 is configured to display search results from thewebsite presence information catalog searcher 2504.

FIG. 25B is a block diagram that illustrates a website presenceinformation catalog entry description in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention. FIG. 25B illustrates information regardingwebsite presence information catalog entries for display to anindividual looking for website presence information using websitepresence information catalog browser 2502 or website presenceinformation catalog searcher 2504. According to one embodiment of thepresent invention, a website presence information catalog entrydescription includes an indication of the method used to collect the webpresence information (2508). By way of example, an entry description mayindicate the web presence information is updated once per second.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a websitepresence information catalog entry description includes an indication ofthe entry's offer period (2510). By way of example, an entry descriptionmay indicate the offer is for site presence data from June 1 to August31 of the current year. As a further example, an entry description mayindicate the offer is for site presence data starting immediately andcontinuing for three months.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a websitepresence information catalog entry description includes a price forreceipt of the website presence information corresponding to the entry(2512). The price may be based on a flat fee. For example, the price maybe fixed for a predetermined period, regardless of the amount of websitepresence information delivered to a buyer. Alternatively, the price maybe based on a metered fee, where the price is based on the amount ofwebsite presence information delivered to the buyer.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a buyer pays inadvance. According to another embodiment of the present invention, abuyer pays after the website presence information is delivered.

FIG. 25C is a block diagram that illustrates a website presenceinformation catalog entry description for auctioned website presenceinformation in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.According to this embodiment of the present invention, a cross-websitemarketing portal is further configured to exchange website presenceinformation via an auction. A seller of website presence information mayinclude in its website presence information catalog entry description,an identification of the auction period. For example, the entrydescription may indicate an auction for the website presence informationstarted two hours ago and will end in 15 minutes. The entry descriptionmay also include an indication of a reserve price, i.e. the lowest priceacceptable to the seller. The entry description may also include anindication of the maximum number of buyers. According to this embodimentof the present invention, buyers submit bids or offers until the end ofthe auction period 2514. The website presence information is sold to thebuyers with highest bids that are at least as much as the reserve price2516. If there number of bids at or above the reserve price 2514 exceedsthe maximum number of buyers 2518, the website presence information issold to the N bidders with the highest bids, where N equals the maximumnumber of buyers 2518.

The information represented in FIGS. 25B and 25C are merely examples ofinformation that may be stored in a website presence information catalogentry description. A particular website presence information catalogentry description may include all or part of the information illustratedin FIG. 25B, FIG. 25C, or both. A particular website presenceinformation catalog entry description may also include other informationnot shown in FIGS. 25B and 25C.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a cross-websitemarketing portal is configured to maintain one or more payment accountsfor buyers of website presence information and for sellers of websitepresence information.

While embodiments and applications of this invention have been shown anddescribed with respect to website presence, embodiments of the presentinvention apply more broadly to presence on any type of computernetwork, including the Internet or a LAN communicatively coupled usingprotocols including, for example, HTTP, SIP, and FTP.

While embodiments and applications of this invention have been shown anddescribed, it would be apparent to those skilled in the art having thebenefit of this disclosure that many more modifications than mentionedabove are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein.The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spiritof the appended claims.

1-32. (canceled)
 33. A system configured to aggregate website presenceinformation comprising: a web presence server in communication with afirst website server of a plurality of website servers, the web presenceserver configured to receive a request from the first website server ofthe plurality of website servers to subscribe to aggregate websitepresence information of one or more affiliated website servers of theplurality of website servers and configured to receive aggregate websitepresence information that includes a collection of website presenceinformation for a plurality of website objects of the one or moreaffiliated website servers; and one or more collaboration serversconfigured to receive aggregated website presence information from thefirst website server and the one or more affiliated website servers,configured to aggregate the website presence information into thecollection of website presence information based on a web presencescheme, the scheme including an indication of a method for deriving webpresence information, and configured to publish the collection ofwebsite presence information based on the web presence scheme to thefirst website server and the affiliated website servers.
 34. The systemof claim 33, wherein the web presence server is further configured toapply one or more access controls to the aggregated website presenceinformation.
 35. The system of claim 33, wherein the web presence serveris associated with one website server of the plurality of websiteservers.
 36. The system of claim 33, wherein the aggregated websitepresence information is based at least in part on: a website presenceselected by a website object; a website presence supplied by the websiteobject; and activity of the website object at the website.
 37. Thesystem of claim 33, wherein the one or more collaboration servers areconfigured to monitor traffic through the one or more collaborationservers.
 38. The system of claim 37, wherein the one or morecollaborations servers are configured to detect an undesirable activity.39. The system of claim 38, wherein the one or more collaborationservers are configured to implement corrective measures to theundesirable activity.
 40. A distributed system configured to aggregatewebsite presence information comprising: a plurality of servers incommunication with a first website server of a plurality of websiteservers, the plurality of servers configured to: receive a request fromthe first website server of the plurality of website servers tosubscribe to aggregate website presence information of one or moreaffiliated website servers of the plurality of website servers, receiveaggregate website presence information that includes a collection ofwebsite presence information for a plurality of website objects of theone or more affiliated website servers, receive aggregated websitepresence information from the first website server and the one or moreaffiliated website servers, aggregate the website presence informationinto the collection of website presence information based on a webpresence scheme, the scheme including an indication of a method forderiving web presence information, and publish the collection of websitepresence information based on the web presence scheme to the firstwebsite server and the affiliated website servers.
 41. The distributedsystem of claim 40, wherein the plurality of servers are furtherconfigured to apply one or more access controls to the aggregatedwebsite presence information.
 42. The distributed system claim 40,wherein at least one of the plurality of servers is associated with onewebsite server of the plurality of website servers.
 43. The distributedsystem of claim 40, wherein the aggregated website presence informationis based at least in part on: a website presence selected by a websiteobject; a website presence supplied by the website object; and activityof the website object at the website.
 44. The distributed system ofclaim 40, wherein at least one of the plurality of servers is configuredto monitor traffic through the distributed system.
 45. The distributedsystem of claim 44, wherein at least one of the plurality of servers areconfigured to detect an undesirable activity.
 46. The distributed systemof claim 45, wherein at least one of the plurality of servers areconfigured to implement corrective measures to the undesirable activity.47. A method for aggregating website presence information comprising: ata web presence server in communication with a first website server of aplurality of website servers: receiving a request from the first websiteserver of the plurality of website servers to subscribe to aggregatewebsite presence information of one or more affiliated website serversof the plurality of website servers, and receiving aggregate websitepresence information that includes a collection of website presenceinformation for a plurality of website objects of the one or moreaffiliated website servers; and at one or more collaboration serversconfigured to receive aggregated website presence information from thefirst website server and the one or more affiliated website servers:aggregating the website presence information into the collection ofwebsite presence information based on a web presence scheme, the schemeincluding an indication of a method for deriving web presenceinformation, and publishing the collection of website presenceinformation based on the web presence scheme to the first website serverand the affiliated website servers.
 48. The system of claim 47, furthercomprising applying one or more access controls to the aggregatedwebsite presence information.
 49. The system of claim 47, wherein theaggregated website presence information is based at least in part on: awebsite presence selected by a website object; a website presencesupplied by the website object; and activity of the website object atthe website.
 50. The method of claim 47 further comprising monitoringtraffic through the one or more collaboration servers.
 51. The method ofclaim 47 further comprising detecting an undesirable activity.
 52. Themethod of claim 47 further comprising implementing corrective measuresto the undesirable activity.